Abstract: Change detection from remote sensing image is an effective method to estimate earthquake damage. With the improvement of of spaceborne image resolution, single pixel is gradually replaced by object as the basic unit for change detection. The principle of object-oriented change detection method is described in this paper. And then data processing flow is stated. Taking high-resolution remote sensing images pre- and post- the 2010 Yushu earthquake as an example, the accuracy of this method to extract building damage is shown. This method is compared with direct change detection method based on pixel, and based on principal component analysis. The results show object-oriented change detection method has the highest accuracy in building damage estimation.

Key words: Remote sensing, object-oriented detection, Change detection, Earthquake damage